Amy and Richard

The 17th-century Buitenplaats Ockenburgh is located on the south-west side of The Hague, on the border with Westland.
It was built in 1654 and many dignitaries lived in Villa Ockenburgh over the centuries, until Jewish children were housed there in 1939 and then the German occupiers moved in during WWII.
Villa Ockenburgh was the largest youth hostel in Europe from 1947-1996.
It then stood empty for 22 years and deteriorated into a haunted house.
There was no interest in repurposing it commercially.
In 2021, local residents themselves wrote a plan to save the 'buitenplaats' on a participatory basis and founded the Stichting tot behoud van de Historische Buitenplaats Ockenburgh, which has owned it since 2018.
Many donors and sponsors raised the funds to make the villa suitably usable again, and in summer 2020, the Villa's restaurant was inaugurated.
Get married outside at the outdoor bar, have the reception on the terrace, dine and then have a smashing party in the greenhouse? It can be done, because Villa Ockenburgh likes it different and the versatile venue is perfect for this.
Also for the wedding of Amy and Richard on Tuesday the 2nd of July 2024.

From halfway around the world, guests have come to The Hague to attend this couple's wedding party.
Among them the bride's sister with her daughter, the groom's parents, his eldest and youngest brother and his youngest sister, all with their partners.
Then there were friends and colleagues from abroad and from The Netherlands as well.
Other family and friends were able to follow te ceremony by live stream.

Amy graduated from Groningen University with a Ph.D. in Economics, Econometrics and Finance and she works at the Netherlands Finance Company for Developing Countries, FMO in The Hague.
Richard studied for something like 20 years in different fields and at different universities in his homeland and obtained several BA's.
He taught at secondary schools and universities, but is now working remotely as a management consultant in the radiology industry.

Richard has been a great debater since his youngest years and has made having conversations, including and perhaps especially about religion and politics, to his core business, something Amy does not yet know when she starts looking for someone, with whom she can talk passionately about these topics, even in a first meeting.
When Richard gets wind of this via the internet, he makes himself heard and is eager to get in touch.
They hit it off in their first meeting and when the waiters in the restaurant where they meet, already are busy cleaning up, the couple is far from finished talking.
After getting to know each other's families, the couple decide to move in together in 2020.
The relationship deepens and the bond of trust grows ever stronger.
In 2021, when Amy gets the opportunity to work for FMO in The Hague in 2022, Richard looks for and finds a new job and both  move to the Netherlands to build a new life together.
In late 2023, early 2024, the decision is made to cement the relationship in a marriage.

In the ceremony, both pronounce a traditional but super beautiful vow to each other, one that has its origins in the Anglo-Saxon marriage tradition.
Amy's niece gets to help me confirm the marriage, which I get to perform in the Celtic tradition of 'handfasting'.
After the loosening of the chords as a sign, that from now on the couple are forever and ever linked to each other, but entirely by their own free will, there follows the ring ceremony and the signing of the marriage certificate.
Richard's youngest brother and his partner, who already performed the hymn I Vow to Thee, My Country instrumentally as the bride and groom entered, play the song Have I told you lately by Northern Irish singer Van Morrison during the signing of the deed.
At the conclusion of the ceremony, Richard's father says some solemn words to bring blessing on this marriage.

I end up wishing the couple a "Baie geluk met jou troudag en 'n blink toekoms saam met familie en vriende".
And to the tones of the movement Spring from Vivaldi's Four Seasons, Richard's brother and partner usher out of the ceremony to move on to the next part of the wedding celebration.